J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8

Joseph Mallord William Turner Studies for Figures, ?for 'Dido and Aeneas' and 'The Destruction of Sodom' 1805

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 7 Recto:
Studies for Figures, ?for ‘Dido and Aeneas’ and ‘The Destruction of Sodom’ 1805
D05778
Turner Bequest XCIII 7
Pen and ink and brown wash on white wove paper, prepared with a grey wash, 171 x 262 mm
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘7’ bottom left, descending vertically
Stamped in black ‘XCIII 7’ bottom left, descending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This is a variant of the subject on folio 6 verso of the sketchbook (D05777), with more figures. See catalogue note to 6 verso and 4 verso (D05773) for the likelihood that this motif was used for The Destruction of Sodom (Tate N00474)1 rather than for Dido and Aeneas (Tate N00494).2
1
Butlin and Joll 1984, p.44 no.56 (pl.66).
2
Ibid., pp.92–3, no.129 (pl.135).
Verso:
Blank but with slight offsets of black chalk from folio 8 (D05779).

David Blayney Brown
October 2007

How to cite

David Blayney Brown, ‘Studies for Figures, ?for ‘Dido and Aeneas’ and ‘The Destruction of Sodom’ 1805 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, October 2007, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2012, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-studies-for-figures-for-dido-and-aeneas-and-the-destruction-r1129999, accessed 29 March 2024.